In these days of historical, realistic, and tactical shooters, we can easily
lose track of what made first-person shooters so popular in the first place.
Remember? It’s just plain fun to fight off hordes of monsters with an arsenal of
weaponry, blazing away as you run right at your enemies. Stealth? Stealth?!? We
don’t need no stinkin’ stealth! Well Painkiller is here to remind us what the
glory days of first-person shooters were like, except with better graphics. If
you have a yearning for some pure shooting fun, then Painkiller may be just the
thing to scratch that itch.
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| Bring on the monks. |
The game’s story, such as it is, puts you in the role of an unfortunate young
soul who dies in an auto accident and “awakens” to find himself in purgatory.
Your timing is perfect as heavenly events are unfolding that has heaven in
desperate aid of need. The demons of hell are mounting a full-scale invasion of
the higher realms and purgatory is on the front lines. If you’re willing to
fight off the hordes of demons and end their invasion then you’ll be rewarded
with a one way ticket to paradise. So you pick up your holy demon flayer and set
off to send the demons back to hell. Well that’s the set-up, but in actuality
there’s not much story to the game. The story is basically used to give a
rationale for why you’re fighting off legions of demons and the generals of
hell’s armies. This is just fine as you’ll be having too much fun to really care
about the storyline.
The gameplay is straight shoot-em up action. You move from location to
location within a level, the metal music cranks ups, and you’re attacked from
every which way by a mob of monsters. If you survive, then the music fades and
you move on to the next battleground to begin another battle. The gameplay will
remind you a lot of Serious Sam, but with the sense of humor replaced by a
unique sense of the macabre.
Sure, on the surface the play sounds pretty basic, but it’s an adrenaline
rush of action. The demons’ attacks and weapons are varied, and it takes quick
thinking and reflexes to keep them at bay. After all, there’s just one of you
and a whole lot of them. Adding to the excitement level is the game’s amazing
physics engine. The problem with a lot of games that feature rag doll deaths is
that it looks like your shooting, well, rag dolls. In Painkiller demon bodies
react realistically to gunshot blasts and explosions, spinning, tripping,
falling, or flying as appropriate. You can feel the power of your shotgun when
you unload it into a nearby enemy and watch him fling backwards and trip up his
cohorts. When bodies hit an object or wall it’s obvious that momentum and angle
of impact affect the bodies’ reactions. Demonic corpses (or what’s left of them)
will slump against walls, drape over stones, and lie splayed over steps. I can’t
think of a single instance when I saw a body partially pass through a wall or
lie suspended over stairs.
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